Morung Express News
Mokokchung | February 16
The Ao Baptist Church Council (ABAM) held a ‘prayer fellowship’ with all the intending candidates from the Ao community at its ABAM Mission Centre – Impur here today.
Altogether, thirty-two candidates from the ten Assembly Constituencies under Mokokchung district, including one from Dimapur attended the prayer fellowship. Five candidates from different constituencies could not attend the fellowship.
Altogether, thirty seven candidates from the Ao community are contesting in the approaching 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly election scheduled for February 27, 2018.
The ABAM is one of the strongest proponents of Clean Election Campaign initiated by the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC). This prayer fellowship is the second of its kind; the first was held during the last 2013 NLA election where a similar prayer fellowship was held for the candidates, where the Church invoked God’s blessings on the leaders.
ABAM Executive Secretary, Rev Dr Mar Atsongchanger, while delivering the welcome speech, said that the calling of all the Ao intending candidates to Impur Mission Centre for a prayer fellowship is in consonance with churches call for clean election practices in Nagaland.
“Clean Election Campaign is not against anyone, but a clarion call to the voters not to sell their votes,” said Rev Dr Mar Atsongchager. He disclosed that this clean election campaign was initiated a few years back, and ABAM had initiated different programmes like conducting 7000 hour chain of prayer, seminars etc, to propagate the concept of conducting clean election in Nagaland.
The ABAM also presented a Holy Bible each to the indenting candidates. The pastors from the different churches prayed for the candidates, and invoked God’s blessings and wisdom to lead the Naga people.
